In the Beginning

The hardest thing about jogging is the thing you fall on.  Just kidding.  The hardest thing about jogging is just getting out there.  The second hardest thing is to keep going.  In light of these two obstacles, I have established two guidelines to help me get out and run.

First, I tell myself that I can quit jogging at any time and start walking, or even turn around and go home.  My entire goal is to put on my shoes and hit the pavement.  If I quit, I still celebrate and feel good because I made it through the front door.  Since establishing this goal, I've never deliberately tested it.  Make no mistake, there have been a few times when I've jogged a couple of blocks and felt like I couldn't go any further so I walked home, but I've never quit because I felt like I earned something just by being out there.

Now that running is becoming a habit, I'm working on the second obstacle.  There are a million reasons to stop and walk:  it's windy, I don't feel right, traffic, people are passing me.  My rule is that I have to complete my route.  I can run, jog, walk, or crawl, but I have to stay on my route.  I try to stay relaxed and keep my mind off of my discomfort.  I sing to myself, I practice conjugating Spanish verbs or I try to empty my mind and think about nothing.  If I absolutely have to stop, I ask myself if I can take just five more steps, or if I can make it to that mailbox, or that tree, or lamp post.  Sometimes that helps me get past the temptation to stop and I jog to the end of my route.  Sometimes I don't but then I refer to my first rule which is that I can stop and walk at any time.

These guidelines have helped me run regularly for six consecutive weeks.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will continue.